North Ribblesdale 24 York 45

NORTH Ribblesdale’s impressive unbeaten run came to an end in a thrilling final Yorkshire One encounter of the season at Grove Park.

They are outscored seven tries to four in a match which provided plenty of entertainment for the spectators.

Ribb suffered a huge blow before the start. Their outstanding full back Adam Whaites was injured in the warm up and unable to play.

He has been one of the key figures in the Settle club’s escape from relegation and his place was taken by Alex Naylor withhold hand Matt Illingworth slotting in at centre.

Ribb used the wind to create early pressure and they took the lead when Naylor chipped the ball over the defence and Simon Bolland won the race to the touchdown.

York responded when a knock on allowed Marcus Britland to steal the ball and run clear to score a try which George Davis converted.

.Ribb’s smaller pack, minus the injured Willie Garth and Nathan Dakin, struggled to contain their bigger opponents in the set pieces.

Desperate defence saw York held up on several occasions before flanker Jeff Meredith breached the defence for a try which Davis converted.

An impressive individual try by York centre Dave Bates and another David conversion put York 21-5 up.

Ribb were on the ropes but they kept battling away and cut the deficit when Matt Speres burrowed his way over from a tap penalty. Naylor added the extra two points.

York’s bonus-point try came just before the interval when Bates made the initial break which led to a score for Charlie Nicholson.

Ribb might have feared the worst when Josh Britland chased his own chip through to score. Davis’ conversion made it 33-12.

The home side responded by string several phases of play together to create pressure. And they were rewarded with Speres and Bolland both scoring their second tries of the game to reduce the deficit to nine points.

Just when a close finish looked in prospect, Nicholson and Fox added further tries for York with Davis kicking one conversion to round off the scoring in an absorbing match.